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Mother’s Restaurant has been on the corner of Poydras and Tchoupitoulas since 1938, named after Mary (Mother) Landry who originally owned the restaurant along with her husband Simon and their large family. The Landry family owned and operated the restaurant until 1986 when the Landry sons sold the restaurant to Jerry and John Amato, who still run it today. For a full history of the restaurant with lots of pictures visit here.
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| From New Orleans |
Every time that I have visited Mother’s there has always been a long line, even in the off season, nice to see. The line in my experience contains a nice mix of just about everyone, locals, tourists, lawyers (the courthouse is just down the street), people in suits, people in work uniforms, you name it.
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| From New Orleans |
The counter help may seem a bit short, but like any other great busy sandwich shop in New Orleans, New York or anywhere, it’s necessary to keep the line moving. As a matter of fact I refuse to eat at a deli in New York with friendly counter help, and insults only make the sandwich taste better. I’m not saying that the fine folks at Mother’s are rude, just don’t expect chit chat during the lunch rush.
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| From New Orleans |
The food is good, great Po Boys, Gumbos and soups, I remember having a really great Turtle Soup on a visit years back with nice chunks of Turtle Meat, not ground as in most restaurants. (My Turtle Soup Recipe) Here is their menu!
My favorite sandwich at Mother’s is the Ferdi Special; Roast Beef with Mother’s excellent baked Ham, dressed and with Debris Gravy. The portion seemed a bit leaner than I remember, but then again, maybe I can just eat more now. Actually there is no maybe about it, I can definitely eat more now. I guess the sandwich didn’t get smaller…I’ve gotten larger.
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| From New Orleans |
My wife Sheelah went for the Shrimp Po Boy as she usually does when it comes to Po Boys, nice portion of perfectly fried Shrimp, nicely dressed (by the way, Mother’s uses Cabbage to dress their Po Boys instead of shredded lettuce). We both had Zapp’s chips with the sandwich, which always just seems like the right thing to do.
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| From New Orleans |
I have to tell you folks, I haven’t been to Mother’s or New Orleans for some time now and looking at these pictures and writing this post makes me heartsick for New Orleans. Actually this site was founded on my heartsickness for New Orleans and her food, people, music, architecture, vibe, everything. It has warmed my heart immensely to hear from displaced folks from New Orleans and Louisiana who are away from their home, and have found at least a little piece of it via recipes and remembrances from my site. I hope this site can bring a little joy to your life as it has mine.
Related Posts:
Roast Beef Po Boy with Debris Gravy Recipe
Shrimp Po Boy Recipe
Muffuletta Sandwich Recipe
Domilise’s Po Boy & Bar
Parasol’s Restaurant and Bar
Be sure to visit my ever growing Index of Creole and Cajun Recipes which links to all of the recipes features on Nola Cuisine!
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Oh, I really enjoy Mother’s when I visit. I happen to like the crawfish po-boy and the fried catfish po-boy. I’ve seen a number of celebs there over the years (live, not just the photos on the wall.) It’s a neat place.
Yet another I must visit on my trip next month!
I absolutely LOVE Mother’s. It always holds a special place in my heart…It’s home. The best grits and debris in the world!
I just went to Mother’s on Tuesday! Wonderful!
Actually this site was founded on my heartsickness for New Orleans and her food, people, music, architecture, vibe, everything. It has warmed my heart immensely to hear from displaced folks from New Orleans and Louisiana who are away from their home, and have found at least a little piece of it via recipes and remembrances from my site. I hope this site can bring a little joy to your life as it has mine.
How about this: I moved from NO here to Austin in the early ’90s so I could, you know, make a living. Now I’m sitting here at work with tears streaming down my face looking at pictures of poboys and reading a freakin’ muffuletta recipe. Geez, how bad is that? It’s good however to know I’m not the only one. I was wondering I was going nuts.
Thank you for this blog.
yours/
peter.
I came into Mother’s late about 9PM, 2/10/09. I ordered the Gumbo, was extreamly disappointed and felt ripped off. The soup was a partially filled bowl, with mushy seafood that obviously was sitting in the pot all day. For $11.75 it was priced as if I was at Brennans. Don’t get me wrong I live for hole in the wall restraunts, and I don’t mind paying up for quality. I live in the SF Bay area and know what good food is, this was not good.
Great pictures but it hurts my heart to see all the familiar places and dishes and not be there in person. Keep on doin’ it. email me, please.
I live 100 miles north of New Orleans but I have to go to Mother’s often just for their crawfish etouffee omelet. Fantastic!!!!